korean traditional house

The traditional Korean house is heated by warm air or warm water which passes through hollow spaces or pipes under the floor. There's nothing better than coming home to a warm floor on a cold day. That's one of the reasons Koreans don't wear shoes in the house. In prehistoric times, people in the northern part of Korea lived in pit dwellings with straw roofs. In the south, they lived in houses built on stilts. …

…where the women and girls of the household lived and worked. The anbang, or inner room, was the women's place and center of the household. The floor was heated with the ondol under-floor heating system. The anbang was located toward the back of the house because women were supposed to stay away from the outside world. A well-bred woman was expected to stay home and not see any men, except her husband and close relatives.